Poster #93 - Economic Hardship and Child Well-being: Test of the Family Stress Model in the Chinese Context

• In Event: 1-005 - Poster Session 01
  In Poster Session: PS 01 Section - Family Context & Processes

Integrative Statement

Living in situations of family economic hardship and experiencing economic pressure can place children at increased risk for a range of adjustment difficulties including behavior, psychological, and physical health problems (e.g., Conger, Conger & Martin, 2010; Mistry, Vandewater, Huston & McLoyd, 2002). From the perspective of the Family Stress Model (FSM), objective indicators of economic hardship and the incapability of families to provide the essential resources for their children are associated with child behavioral outcomes via parental emotional distress and ineffective parenting behaviors that are more oppressive and rejecting (e.g., Conger & Conger, 2002; Mistry et al., 2002). Although there have been extensive tests of the FSM model in many countries, this model has been examined to a limited extent within the Chinese context. Using data from the 2014 wave of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), a nationally representative survey, we test the Family Stress Model in the Chinese context. The study included a sample of 676 school-age children aged between 10 and 15 years (M=11.28). All children in this study lived in married two-parent homes, 45.4% were girls, and 57.2% came from rural families. Structural equation modeling techniques were used to test the Family Stress Model using Mplus version 8 software (Muthén & Muthén, 2012). Economic hardship was indicated by three constructs (i.e., the quartile of net family income per capita, debt-to-asset ratio, and income loss from 2012), which are reported by parents. Parents also reported on whether or not they perceived economic pressure. The latent construct of parental emotional distress was informed by father and mother reports and parent-child emotional support was informed by child reports. Child well-being was based on child reports and included three constructs: depressive symptoms, happiness, and health status. Child gender was controlled for in the FSM model. Ninety-five percent bias-corrected bootstrap confidence intervals were calculated for the path coefficients, and the total, direct, and indirect effects were based on 5,000 bootstrap samples.

Results support the FSM model and the findings are similar to that found in other countries (e.g., Conger et al., 1992, 1993, 1994; Landers-Potts et al., 2015; Mistry et al., 2002; Simons et al., 2016). The final model indicated very good fit (χ2 (676) = 53.02, p < .03, CFI = .97, RMSEA = .03, TLI = .95). Tests of indirect pathways were conducted using Mplus (Muthen & Muthen, 2012). Results indicated that there was a significant indirect relationship between economic pressure and child well-being through parental emotional distress and parent-child emotional support (β = -.02, SE = .01, p <.03). There was also a significant indirect relationship between economic pressure and child well-being through parental emotional distress (β = -.28, SE = .06, p < .001). Findings suggest that clinical and policy efforts should be directed at alleviating the effects of economic pressure by directing endeavors towards supporting and enhancing the parental emotional functioning and parent-child emotional support. These efforts could be valuable in reducing child negative outcomes in the face of family economic pressure.

Authors

• Xiaoyan Zhang, Syracuse University
  Presenting Author

• Ambika Krishnakumar, Syracuse University
  Non-Presenting Author